East Frisia, Germany

Description

Oldenburgisch-Ostfriesischer Wasserverband (OOWV) is one of the largest water services providers in Germany, with an area of 7,860 km², delivering drinking water from groundwater resources to private, industrial and agricultural customers (and treating wastewater in ~50% of the area). Within the supply area, water demand has been steadily increasing in the past in various sectors. Future demand scenarios assume that this trend will continue. Limited water abstraction capacities and increasing hot and dry summer periods due to climate change are shifting the focus towards alternative water supply concepts.
Together with the LL partners Deutsches Milch Kontor (DMK),  Envirochemie (ENV) and IWW Water Centre (IWW), OOWV will develop and operate a pilot plant for water reuse. Here cow water (water extracted from milk or whey by evaporation processes as vapor condensate) will be treated  so that it can be used like drinking water for the process in future.
In addition, digital applications for modeling and assessing water cycles are being developed. Based on a spatial multi-criteria GIS approach,  medium- to long-term water demands of individual consumer groups will be identified and compared with regionally available water resources. Furthermore, with the installation of smart meters in the pipeline network, flow measurements will be installed for selected areas. Thereby, a short-term forecasting models for peak water demand will be developed. Both tools can used to identify sustainable new water management options and provide a basis for operational and strategic decision support.